Coupler operating rod bracket



June 17, 1958 P. J. LAHEY ETAL 2,8 ,2

COUPLER OPERATING ROD BRACKET Filed March 4, 1957 INVENTOR. ParkerJIa/zay fieorge E? Z my United States Patent F COUPLER OPERATING RODBRACKET Parker J. Lahey, Chicago, Ill., and George R. OLeary,

Highland, Ind., assignors to Standard Railway Equipment ManufacturingCompany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March 4,1957, Serial No. 643,599

Claims. (Cl. 21317l) This invention relates as indicated to railway carcoupler operating mechanisms. More particularly the invention isconcerned with an improved bracket for supporting the Operating rod inan apparatus for manipulating the coupler by a trainman from the Side ofa railway car.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a bracket forsupporting the operating rod of such mechanisms adjacent a corner of thecar, and is an improvement upon the type of bracket shown in ourcopending application, Serial No. 623,016.

An increasing number of cushion underframes and long travel draft gearsare being used in railway freight cars in which a total movement of carcoupler and uncoupling lever of 24" is required; which in combinationwith the side travel of the coupler, takes up the clearance between theuncoupler lever hook and the coupler rotor. Therefore, a considerablelateral and angling movement of the operating rod in the supportingbracket must be maintained, as otherwise the lack of clearance betweenthe lever hook and coupler rotor would be a contributing factor incausing undesirable break-in-twos. On the other hand there are literallyhundreds of thousands of freight cars now operating having standardunderframes and draft gears Where just ordinary clearance between leverhook and coupler rotor is suflicient.

Our improved bracket is made in two parts, one part being a pressedmounting plate which is attached to the car, and the other part being abar, one end of which is secured to said plate and the other end bent toextend through a hole therein. Thus the bars may be made in differentlengths with the ends shaped to fit the same mounting plate.Consequently, the mounting plate of the bracket would be the same forall cars, with the bars varying according to the type of underframe anddraft gear. 'Ihis fonns the principal object of our invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description thereof and from an examination of theaccompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the inventionand wherein like reference characters indicate like parts.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved bracketfor supporting an uncoupling rod adjacent its handle.

Figure 2 is an elevational view showing the uncoupling rod supportingadjacent its handle end by the improved bracket.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the rod and its supporting bracketshowing fragmentary portions of the car.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of Figure 1.

In the drawings indicates the body portion of an operating rod for anAssociation of American Railroads long travel draft gear. The inner endof rod 10 is formed into a hook portion 11, adapted for connection withan eye 13, of the rotor 14 which is pivotally connected to the locklifter 15. Thus rotation of rod 10 anti-clockwise will cause the rotorto raise the lock lifter, thereby uncoupling the coupler 17. The outerend of said rod is 2,839,201 Patented June 17, 1958 provided with adepending handle portion 12 by which the rod is manually rotated tounlock the coupler.

The bracket for said rod comprises a pressed mounting plate having anupright portion 20 provided with spaced holes through which rivets 21may extend and secure said bracket to a corner bracket 22 of the car.The mounting plate is bent at less than a right angle to form a flange23 extending substantially the entire width of the plate, to providesaid plate with the requisite strength and rigidity. At the outer edgeof the flange 23 is formed a downturned flange 24 which acts as a stopfor the handle when in rest position. Adjacent one end of flange 23there is provided a round hole and adjacent the other end of said flangethere is provided an elongated hole 25.

A round bar is supported at opposite ends in these holes in flange 23,said bar having a horizontal body portion 30, at the inner end of whichsaid bar is turned inwardly toward the car as at 31 then downwardly asat 32 toward flange 23, and then laterally on said flange. This end ofsaid rod is flattened, and provided with a hole therethrough,registering with the round hole in flange 23, through which fasteningmeans such as a bolt or rivet passes in holding the bar to the bracket.The other outer end of the bar 30 is also turned inwardly as at 35,corresponding to the inturned portion 31, then downwardly as at 36, theninwardly and downwardly in the form of an S-curve as at 37 through theelongated hole 25. As long as the fastening means securely holds theother end of the bar, the curved end 37 cannot come out of the elongatedhole 25, as the end underlaps the flange 23 and the bar 30 is thusattached to the bracket.

The handle portion 12 of the rod extends upwardly behind the bar 30 overand down around the bar, forming an eye surrounding the bar as clearlyshown in Figure 4. The inner diameter of the eye is greater than thediameter of bar 30 to provide a loose fit, so that there can beconsiderable angling of the rod 10 in relation to the fixed bar 30without causing any binding of the eye on bar 30. The eye just describedcompletely surrounds the bracket bar 30 and contacts the handle portionas shown in Figure 4, so that when the handle 12 is manipulated torotate the rod 30 in anti-clockwise direction about its axis ofrotation, there is no tendency in case of strain to open the eye.

The bar 30 is in length at least the same as the distance of travellaterally of the coupler, so that the eye of the rod 10 may slide freelyon said bar 30 during movements of the coupler without binding.

In case of long travel draft gears the same bracket would be used, butthe bar 30 would be longer and the ends turned in more to fit the fixedholes in the flange 23 of the bracket. Thus the bracket is suitable forall draft gears, and only the bar need be changed to suit the individualrequirements of the draft gear.

In assembly, the mounting plate is attached to the car by the rivets 21.The eye in the operating rod is then slid over the curved end of the bar30 onto the horizontal portion thereof and then the curved end 37 of thebar is passed into the elongated hole 25. The fastening means is thenapplied through the other flattened end of the bar and the flange tohold the bar securely in place.

We claim:

1. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a carcoupler upon manual operation of said rod, said bracket comprising anupright portion, for attaching said bracket to a car, a lower flangeissuing from the lower edge of the upright portion, said flange havingan opening therethrough, a bar having a horizontal portion, spaced fromsaid flange, and end portions, one of which is removably secured to saidflange and the other of which terminates in a curve extending throughsaid 92 2. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operatea car coupler upon manual operation of said 7 rod, said bracketcomprising an upright portion, a lower flange issuing from the loweredge of the upright portion, said flange having spaced openingstherethrough, ',a bar having a horizontal portion, spa'ced from saidflange, and end portions, one of which is-rernovably secured to saidflange and the other of which terminates in a curve extending throughone of saidopening. i

3. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a carcoupler upon manual operation of said rod, said bracket comprising anuprightportion, a lower flange issuing from the lower edge of theupright portion, said flange having an opening therethroughfla'barhaving a horizontal portion, spaced from said flange, .one end ,ofsaid'bar being in the form of an S-curve extending through said openingand underlapping said flange,

car, a lower flange issuing from the lower edge of said 4 v a one endportion being removably secured to said flange through one of saidopenings, and the other end portion terminating in a curve extendingthrough said elongated opening.

5. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a carcoupler upon manual'operation of said rod, said bracket comprising apressed mounting plate having an iupright pontion for attachingcsaidbracket to a car, al w r flapge issuing from the lower edge of saidupright ,poQr saidflange having an elongated opening theret'hrough'adjacent 'one end thereof, a bar a horizontal portion spaced fromandparallefwith said flange and end portions, one end portion beingsecured to said flange adjacent one end thereof, and the other endportion terminating in .a curve extending through said clongatedopening; V 7

R fe en e Sl tsd i th fi 9 this patent i ures AIENI iSm-alL 'July 5,1932 2,356,336 Metzger t Aug. 22,1944

